The Power Age
by Zarla
Summary: A serious fic based on Zorn and Thorn, this is an AU fic taking place at the same college as The Workaholic. Forced to sustain themselves through college, the twins struggle to stay alive, unaware that they are working themselves to death...Chapter 3 up.
1. Planning and Source

The Power Age  
(By "2 Unlimited will be da freakin death of me someday" Zarla)  
(Note: I am not responsible fer any mental damage caused by readin this fic.)  


  
At an early age, perhaps the earliest, they had to depend on eachother. They had always known that, and it had become something in their lives that they had accepted as fact. They realized, from the various places they had to go, from their own home to school to any other location, that the only real certainty in life was eachother, and that the other would always be there. Because of this, they lost their trust in other people, and that became their weakness.

Zorn and Thorn's parents were anything if supportive. The money that should have gone into raising the twins instead went into their own pockets, to feed their own desires and addictions. Their mother had a nasty drinking problem, and their father had obsessions with small trinkets that had no real meaning, but were expensive enough. Although they weren't living in poverty, they had no money of their own to speak of. They were indeed lucky to have their own room, with the twin beds.

For all their parents cared, Zorn and Thorn did not exist. It had been made perfectly clear to the twins very early on that they weren't wanted. It had also been made clear that their parents weren't going to clean up their own mess, so the two had learned to become almost completely self-reliant. When they wanted something, they worked to earn it. They fed themselves from the kitchen, thus learning how to cook extremely well. When young, they learned to amuse eachother, not having any other figure in their lives to model after.

They purposely gravitated towards red and blue, and everything that they did or associated with was split into those kind of colors. Anything red, or anything blue, automatically went to the boy that it was associated with. There wasn't any question of who was which color, it seemed to be inherently understood by the two. And even despite the fact that Zorn and Thorn were ALWAYS blue and red, their parents could never, ever tell them apart. Sometimes, their parents even forgot their names, or forgot who they were speaking to, often in the middle of conversations. When introduced to their parents friends, they became one being, simply "ZornandThorn", and everyone they knew purposely avoided ever addressing them individually, and they rarely, rarely got it right when they did. Their parents did not even apologize when the wrong boy was called the wrong name. It became something that the twins began to resent immensely, although they never voiced this outloud.

Thorn's speech impediment became painfully obvious when the two learned to speak. It was almost at the same time, and the first words they learned were from the television, their only other influence in life. Due to their parents neglect they were able to form rudimentary sentences before their parents either noticed or cared. Thorn's speech impediment came as naturally as his affinity for red, and neither Zorn nor Thorn thought it peculiar. However, for once their parents did seem to care about this kind of disorder, and they tried to send Thorn to a child psychologist. However, this did not end well as Zorn refused to leave his brother's side, particularly when he was crying and frightened in the waiting room. When the doctor asked to speak to Thorn alone, both of them refused. In the end, no progress was made at all, and the entire experience only deepened the rift between Zorn and Thorn and their indifferent parents.

In the end the speech impediment stayed, and the two of them continued onwards. It was also noticed, when they went into school, the fact that the two of them were remarkably shorter then anyone else they encountered. Again, they were taken in for examination, but the only solution the doctor could come up with was that they hadn't had their growth spurt yet. The two of them seemed to understand inherently that they'd always be the same height, and weren't surprised when they didn't grow as much as others that they ran into. The two of them barely got close to five feet when they stopped growing, but it didn't particularly bother them.

Neither one of them was exactly sure when they first found the hats. They had to be old enough to be able to buy both of them, because there was no way their parents would have bought them for them, but they could not remember being without the hats. The jingling jesters hats were identical, excepting the patterns and colors. Zorn's being blue and striped, and Thorn's being red and checked. Once they found and wore the jesters hats, they absolutely refused to take them off, and their parents had another embarassing thing about their children that they'd never be able to understand. Zorn and Thorn felt something...right about the hats, about the soft jingling noises it made with their motions and the way they moved with them...something about the hats felt like they had always belonged with the pair, so they were rarely seen without them.

Their experiences through school were difficult to say the least. Thorn was mocked openly for his speech problem, although Zorn often tried to cover for him, and the two in themselves were strange looking and thus teased mercilessly. The only comfort they had after such tormented days at school was the knowledge that they'd always have eachother. Their relationship was anything if perfect, but underneath all the bickering and petty arguments they knew that they did care about eachother, and they'd always be connected in some way.

Zorn and Thorn loved to snipe at one another. Despite the fact that they were almost always alone at school, they argued constantly, although rarely seriously. Something about their voices bouncing back at one another, often repeating what the other had said in a different speech pattern appealed to them, and they had a natural gift for rhymes.

One thing they were very good at was their work. They were extremely dedicated in everything they did and always tried to work things through to the end. Zorn was more mathmatical and analytical, while Thorn was more creative and liberal. The two of them could solve almost any problem when put together, so the one thing in school that was not a challenge in any way was the work itself. They passed what was required of them with amazing ease. The social structure never accepted them, and they never struggled to be accepted, so they resigned themselves to their post at the bottom of the social food chain.

Without any kind of support from their parents, Zorn and Thorn worked oddjobs as soon as they were able to, and were able to perform these well. They were often tipped and given small raises, and on this they were able to afford essentials, such as pencils or pens or books, that their parents didn't want to spend money on. They struggled their way through school financially and socially, if nothing else. However, because of the twins unique abilities, they were able to land many different jobs. They switched off shifts and learned how to work at almost superhuman speeds and times. They often took shifts that no one else seemed to want, which got them even more money.

High school was not much different then grade school was. They hadn't gotten any bigger then was expected, which didn't surprise them. It did leave them open for many attacks and jibes, which they had learned to ignore completely. At times they were pushed around, but the presence of both of them seemed to ward off most people at once. They weren't sure exactly why that was, but it was something that they came to accept. In another effort to stop the constant mix up over their names, they began to draw symbols on the back of their hand in permanent marker. Zorn drew large diamonds, while Thorn drew clubs. Although this helped a little, they still remained largely mistaken and misnamed.

Near the end of their high school career, the two agreed on the fact that they wanted to be more then this. They didn't want to have to struggle through life one job at a time. They wanted to go somewhere, to prove to their parents once and for all they didn't need them.

They had been saving their surplus money for years, just in case of some kind of disaster, and now they had finally decided what they wanted to do.

They wanted to go to college.

When they told their parents about this, the only response they got was a distracted "You're going to pay for it, it isn't coming out of my pocket". This only inspired them.

During their final year, they began to work extremely hard on their schoolwork, sacrificing any kind of social life, or pseudo-social life, they had gained. They dropped any extraneous jobs and focused on the important ones, struggling to get the best grades possible. Thorn took writing classes, and wrote two different, but extremely good essays. They completely blazed their way through the SAT's and their normal classes, and graduated as valedictorians. Applying everywhere for financial aid or scholarships, they managed to scrape together enough money, along with the money they had saved, to go to college for at least a year, if not two.

This was a big decision, but one that made them extremely happy. Their work had not been in vain, and they were finally making something of their lives. They were going to be successful, they were going to be somebody.

So that fateful summer, Zorn and Thorn packed up their meager collection of possessions that they had obtained over the years, said goodbye to their parents, and headed off to the college they had chosen, hoping that life would continue to help them through, and that fortune would continue to smile on them.

~~~

"Glad I am we got a room together..." Thorn dropped his bags in the center of the room, noting the two beds on seperate sides of the room.

"Yes, a roommate would be awkward..." Zorn dropped his right next to Thorn's, and his eyes also gravitated towards the two seperate beds. The two exchanged glances, and nodded.

It took them a little while, but they managed to rearrange the furniture until they had the beds bunked directly in the center of the room and the desk near the wall. The TV was on the other side, so that they could both watch from their newly joined bed.

"Much better."

"Yes."

They unpacked the few things they had brought with them. Matching snowglobes, matching juggling kits...most of the things that one owned had it's twin with the other, and even their clothes practically matched excepting the color. Their pitiful collection of personal affects were barely enough to cover one desk, but they were used to it. Their money had gone into supporting eachother, not into getting things. It didn't bother them.

Thorn automatically took the bottom bunk, while Zorn climbed onto the top one. It was another thing that they seemed to understand immediately. Once on their respective beds, they stripped them and replaced them with their own personal sheets, Zorn with blue diamonds and Thorn with red. Finally, as the last touch, the two put down the two matching stuffed cats. Zorn's cat was completly white, while Thorns was black. That was one thing their parents had bought them when they were babies, and although the two didn't sleep with the animals, they felt better having them around. The twins seemed to have an unnatural knack for animals, cats in particular, and didn't fear animals in the least.

After their beds had been set up, the two of them looked at their schedules. They matched completely, each of them in the same class at the same time. The exchanged glances.

"Easy this will make it..."

"If we do things correctly..."

The rest of the oncoming weekend was spent applying and looking for odd jobs that they'd be able to do. Assuring whatever employer they were speaking to that they were more then capable, they managed to land a job at almost every building and facility on campus. Fortunately, no two jobs seemed to overlap, although there was almost no time between shifts. Not only were Zorn and Thorn working at the bookshop, they also worked at the post office, the cafeteria, the library, the theater...

They got a map from the main office and studied it very carefully, marking out where they'd have to be at certain times. if they were going to do all the jobs they had applied for, they'd get, at most, four hours of sleep on a weekday, and perhaps six on the weekend.

"We can do it."

"Do it we can, but hard it will be...planning it will take..."

"But we can do it."

And with that, they slept on that Sunday night, preparing themselves for the beginning of one of the most hectic schedules of their lives.

~~~

The first thing on their schedule on the first Monday of school was the very early shift at the bookstore, one of the last places to accept their applications. In order to get the amount of jobs they needed to continue to fund their college education, they had to get as many part-time jobs as possible, but the school wasn't about to let kids work themselves to death. So Zorn and Thorn had fibbed slightly about how many jobs they had, but the bookstore had been reluctant. It had taken several promises and an example of how quickly they could sort and find things until they were finally accepted.

Their first class that day was later in the afternoon, so they could complete their shift successfully today. As they planned it, their next shift in the store would be on wednesday, which was basically a mirror of Monday. Tuesday's and Thursday's would be more complicated, but at the moment they were pleased with what they could get.

The first day involved a quick briefing, in case they had forgotten the rules they had learned while applying, and dealing with late stragglers in terms of getting books. Because their shift was so early, not too many people came in.

Zorn took over the cash register, his natural ability for numbers coming into play, while Thorn took stock and made sure books were in the correct place. The two of them struggled to keep their energy up, but in truth they were already tired. They had not got much sleep the previous night, and it was already taking it's toll.

A few people came in to get late books, among them a tall, sturdy man dressed in silver, with what appeared to be a sheath at his side who looked at them strangely, a boy with a tail that gave them even odder looks, and a young man with blue hair and eyes, a bandanna, and a shifty look around him. Zorn and Thorn kept an eye on him, but he ended up not stealing anything, although something about him seemed to radiate "thief" to the two of them.

They caught the names for most of the people who came to pick up books as they gave their id's so that their respective accounts could be charged. Zidane, Steiner, Locke, Kain...various people came and went, but Zorn and Thorn didn't pay too much attention. They didn't really expect to see them again, and they had enough to keep their hands full for a while.

They did notice the odd stares they got from everyone, not counting those from Zidane, as they found the tailed boy's name to be, and Steiner, the man with the sword. Their appearance must have been odd to people who didn't know them, and they knew that. They had lived with such derision their entire lives, and being regarded as strange and/or amusing was not unknown to them. The jester hats particularly gave off this kind of vibe. Either way, Zorn and Thorn had learned not to care, although they still got frustrated when someone mixed up their names.

In yet another effort to distinguish eachother, Zorn and Thorn began wearing shirts their respective colors, with the appropriate initial on the front, a Z or a T. This still didn't help, and Zorn and Thorn resigned themselves to being constantly forgotten.

One person that came to get books caught their attention, however. It was because he seemed to be half cat, with large black feline ears protruding from his short black hair, and a black and white tail coming from beneath his red and black shirt. When he brought his books up to the front, they found his name to be Reeve. For some reason, something registered in the twins as being important about him, or that some connection was formed. They could tell from the look in Reeve's emerald eyes that he felt the same. Shrugging, the two blamed it on his apparent half-cat nature. For some reason, the twins always had a special affinity for cats they could never explain. So they tried to write off the strange experience as such, but it kept bothering them.

As the light slowly began to leak into the building, their shift ended. Feeling extreme pangs of exhaustion, the two slunk out of the store, trying mightily to deny any sign of being tired.

"You look tired."

Thorn glared at his brother. "Tired I am not, never am. Tired YOU are."

Zorn glared back with just as annoyed. "I am not tired...but..."

Zorn looked forward, noting one of the many small cafes that dotted the campus. He pointed towards it. "Let's get something to drink first before continuing..."

Thorn was glad for the break, but he couldn't show it. "Alright, but hurry we must, beginning our next shift is in only a few minutes..."

The two of them walked into the cafe. It was much more crowded now that the day was beginning for most people on a normal schedule, and Zorn and Thorn threaded their way through much larger bodies until they came to a freezer. They stared at with incomprehension for a moment. They hadn't had much experience with junk food or the like, considering that most of their money was spent on being able to afford a few meals a day. They weren't sure what they should get, but they both inherently knew it had to be something that would keep them awake.

"What are you two doing in a place like this...?" A kindly older voice came from above them, and the two exchanged weary glances. They waited for the inevitable. Sure enough, a face soon joined them near the floor, and the two sighed almost imperceptibly at the same time.

"Where's your parents? Are you lost?"

Zorn took the liberty of replying while Thorn pried open the display case, sticking his head in for a closer look. "No, we are not lost. We are looking for something that will help us stay awake."

"Is that so?" The woman knelt down, her long brown hair which was kept back in a ponytail trailing down her back. She pushed up her glasses, her tone condescending, but friendly. "Still, where are your parents?"

Zorn half-closed his eyes and, instead of responding, dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out his ID. He held it in front of her for a moment, waiting for the realization to sink in.

"Oh..." She looked extremely embarrassed, which made Zorn smile slightly. She put a hand to her mouth and looked down. "Um..."

"Common mistake it is." Thorn's voice was muffled from the glass door that was propped open by his body. "Worry about it you shouldn't."

"Um, yes...well..." She seemed extremely taken aback by this revelation, which Zorn found very interesting. He tried to flip his card back into his pocket, but dropped it by accident, prompting Thorn to laugh at him from the confines of the freezer. Zorn frowned as he leaned over to pick up his card, only finding the woman holding it for him. He snatched it out of her hands irritably.

"I'm sorry about that, you two. My name is Lucrecia, I work here as one of the faculty. I know you're Zorn...who's your friend?" She turned her eyes towards Thorn, who seemed to be ignoring her. Zorn rolled his own eyes and crossed his arms after putting his ID back in his pocket.

"My brother. Thorn."

Thorn turned slightly and waved for a moment before returning to what he was doing.

"What are you guys looking for again?"

"Something that will keep us awake..." Zorn didn't want to go into specifics about why, and he was already sure she probably wasn't interested anyway.

"Zorn, your help I need to reach this..." Thorn backed out of the freezer, but kept the door open. He pointed towards something on the top shelf. "What we need that might be."

Zorn nodded and headed towards his brother. Irritatingly, she still remained on the ground with them, looking interested.

"Does he always talk like that?"

Zorn made an annoyed noise and didn't bother to answer her question. He instead let his brother take a hold of his shoulder and let him place his foot on his hands, boosting him up until he rested on his shoulders. Holding onto his ankles tightly, he struggled to keep his brothers weight under control, noting that the woman was standing now. He waited for the typical reaction to this maneuveur of theirs, which was an "Aww." kind of feel. They never understood why that was. 

However, she reacted somewhat differently then they expected. "Are you sure you can...do you need help?"

The unanimous answer came quickly. "No!"

Thorn finally took hold of what he was after, and jumped off of Zorn's shoulders back onto the ground with ease. He was holding a large can of soda.

"Would this work?"

She knelt to join them again, causing them both to regard her with the same bored, eyes half-closed look that Zorn had before. "You guys want something that'll keep you REALLY awake?"

They nodded, a small chorus of jingles, to her question they had answered already. She smiled at them knowingly. "I got something that'll DEFINITLY keep you awake."

"Hmm..." Thorn stared at the can in his hands, the bright lightning bolt on the label capturing his attention easily. "Know I don't...right this seems..."

She let them keep the can, but led them over to another counter slightly further away. "Hello, I'd like two small expressos. With the extra."

"Two? Are you sure?" The attendant at the desk gave her a peculiar look. "Why two?"

"They're for these two down here. Go on, wave! Let him know you're there."

Zorn and Thorn refused to do anything at her encouraging and thoroughly irritating command. They simply stared at her.

The attendant shrugged. "Whatever, Prof. Lucrecia."

"Well, while that's being made..." She turned back to the two on the floor, who stared at her with blank expressions. "Want to tell me why you're here?"

"Like I SAID..." Zorn was rapidly losing his patience. "We wanted something to keep us awake."

"Quickly." Thorn interjected, which caused Zorn to nod in agreement. 

"No, I mean, what brought you to this school?" She gestured broadly as if they didn't know what she was talking about. 

"We want to learn."

"Make something of our lives, we must."

Lucrecia stared at them for a few moments, then shrugged. "You guys sure are mysterious. What do you have to hide?"

"What makes you think we're hiding something, anyway?" Zorn crossed his arms in annoyance. "Do you ask everyone that question?"

"Or just us is it?" Thorn was getting just as annoyed as his brother, which caused Lucrecia to throw up her hands.

"Alright, alright, calm down. I'm sorry about what happened before. Anyway..." She straightened and took the two cups from the counter, handing them to the twins, who took them suspiciously. "These will DEFINITLY keep you awake though."

Zorn looked at it for a moment, then looked up at Lucrecia, then back at the cup. He sighed for a moment, then finally mumbled under his breath. "Thank you."

Thorn just nodded, a slight jingling made from his hat. Lucrecia smiled at them both, but they did not return it. She walked towards the cash register, as if they had forgotten where it was. After all, they'd probably be working here tomorrow anyway. They followed at their own pace.

"Let me see what you got." Zorn held out his hand, and Thorn put the can he had picked up into it. Zorn stared at the lightning emblazoned label. "Jolt...? I guess..."

"Get it we should..." Thorn looked at Lucrecia's receding back. "Just in case..."

Zorn nodded, and the two headed to the cash register. They handed up their ID's, let the woman running the store at the moment cash them, and walked out. Lucrecia seemed to be waiting for them for some reason.

Zorn took a taste of whatever it was in the cup that Lucrecia had ordered. It was sweet, and bitter, and strange all at once, and it woke him up what seemed to be immediately. So she had been correct after all...

Looking over at Thorn, he found that he had experienced the same, and the two looked up at the woman who smiled down at them.

"Well, I hope that works for you two. Best of luck. Maybe we'll see eachother again."

Zorn and Thorn watched her go before heading off for their next job, this time in the cafeteria which wasn't too far away.

"I hope not." Zorn muttered under his breath. Thorn sighed into his straw.

"Think all the professors this way will be?"

Zorn paused for a moment, then repeated in much the same fashion. "I hope not."

Thorn put the can into his backpack, which was getting heavier by the moment, and shrugged. Although they had both tried to clear their bags of anything unneccessary, they still felt very heavy.

They finished their drinks and tossed the cups away, feeling much more awake then before.

"At least correct she was about the drinks..."

Zorn nodded reluctantly. "We should make a note of it..."

And so they headed off to their next location, feeling much more energized and awake then before.

The cafeteria job was pretty simple. They stood and waited mostly, for anyone to come in who wanted something to eat between breakfast and lunch. This didn't mean many people, but a few did show up. They took turns serving and preparing simpler foods, as they weren't known enough to be trusted with cooking yet. It was a simple job that didn't have many complications. And although they both were secretly hoping, they did not see Reeve again. They wanted to at least speak to him, even if it was again behind the desk that seperated consumer and provider.

They got far fewer odd looks and comments this time around, which was a relief. Rarely did anyone say anything more then what they wanted, so conversations were limited. Either way, Zorn and Thorn worked to the best of their abilities, and this time exhaustion did not win. They still had some energy left when their shift ended, which precious few minutes to spare before their first class that afternoon.

They walked along together outside, enjoying the warmth and calm of the lovely day that had befallen the college.

"Not too hard this is...surprised I am. Do this we really can." Thorn smiled, and Zorn even gave a small smile back.

"We really CAN do it, if things continue the way they do now."

"Our next class...what is it?" Thorn glanced in Zorn's direction as he was already pulling out his schedule, which perfectly matched his brothers. 

"Human Emotions..."

The two nodded at the same time and headed off towards their next class, feeling ready for anything that was going to come their way.

~~~

"My name is Professor Hojo, and I will be teaching this course." The professor's voice was very controlled and calm, and it set Zorn and Thorn somewhat on edge. It reminded them all too much of the traumatizing early visit to the psychiatrist, and they naturally gravitated towards the back of the room, where few people collected, no doubt other loners.

They did see Zidane again, sitting near the front of the class, but they didn't feel comfortable saying hello. In truth the jesters had never really had any friends that they could think of outside of eachother. They were very awkward with dealing with other people, and didn't reach out unless they knew it was safe. So they sat next to eachother near the wall, and kept an empty seat between them and the others. They noted a few others following this pattern of empty seats, like the long black-haired man in the back, but even he had someone sit next to him during the course of the class. It made the twins feel lonely in a strange way they never felt before, and this confused them. After such a long period of being alone, of only having eachother, they found the desire to be accepted rising for some reason. This had never mattered to them before, and this was extremely confusing. They struggled to keep it from their minds and focus on their class, not sure what to make of their emotions.

Zorn took notes during class, while Thorn struggled to stay awake. For him, the caffeine buzz seemed to be wearing off, leaving him in a worse position then he was when he had woken up that day. Zorn nudged him softly during class, whispering.

"Are you alright...?"

"Tired I am..." Thorn mumbled, his head drifting to the desk. Zorn looked around, seeing that no one else noticed or cared that Thorn's head had dropped, and nudged him again.

"I'll take notes...you can copy them later. Take a nap for now."

"Mmhmm..." Thorn's response was barely audible as he had put his arms over his face, a sleeping position both of them seemed to share. Zorn looked back up, trying to look as if nothing was wrong. Prof. Hojo didn't seem to notice, which was good, and the rest of the class passed without incident. At the end of the class, Zorn leaned over to Thorn and stabbed him rather sharply in the shoulder with his pencil, jerking him awake.

"Class's over."

Thorn rubbed his eyes for a few seconds before lapsing into complete awareness, something that both of the twins seemed to share. The effects of sleep wore off quickly for them, but once they began to wear down, they refused to wind back up again. But after being awakened, the two were surprisingly sharp and capable. Thorn looked around in confusion, then looked concerned.

"The class..."

"I took notes." Zorn was busy placing the said notes in his backpack while pretending to look like nothing had happened. "So you can copy them later."

Thorn nodded again, getting his own backpack and standing to join his brother as they headed down the aisle. "Sleep you can during the shift this afternoon...difficult it shouldn't be..."

Zorn nodded, not finding the fact that his brother seemed to know how he was thinking or feeling as odd or peculiar in the least. They had always seemed to share this kind of link, and he had gotten used to it over the years. It had always struck others as kind of strange, however, especially when they would often finish the other's sentences, or break out into what seemed to HAVE to have been prescripted poems. When they were in the mood for rhyming, nothing seemed to be able to stop them, and that was probably what frightened or creeped out people the most. It seemed perfectly natural to them, but they had long ago accepted the fact that the majority of things about them were not natural.

They headed out of the class, not encountering anything, although Zorn felt something prickling along his neck. When he looked back, he found Prof. Hojo glaring at his brother. Worried, he began wondering whether or not the professor had truly been aware of the fact that his brother had used his class to regain some desperatly needed energy, but decided that if he hadn't mentioned it, it couldn't be that important. It did, however, mean that Hojo was more observant then he gave him credit for, but he shrugged off his feelings as best he could and continued walking. 


	2. Work

Their next shift involved working in the mail room, sorting and numbering packages and the like. Considering that their shift was later on in the afternoon, they didn't have to place cards or other mail into people's boxes, but they did spend a lot of time giving out packages.

Thorn decided to take the back room, retrieving requested items and taking inventory, while Zorn took the task of dealing with the people who came up to get their mail. This was due in part to Thorn's speech impediment, but also because Zorn was slightly better with people then his brother was. The two of them were, by no means, socially skilled, but Zorn's experience with having to speak for Thorn so often gave him a slight edge in social settings. Thorn busied himself in the back, getting packages and handing them to Zorn when he called out the appropriate number. It was boring, somewhat mindless work, and Thorn amused himself by balancing himself on the shelves, the piping in the ceiling, and other places that gave him some element of a physical challenge. The two of them had been gifted with an extraordinary sense of balance and precision, and were natural born acrobats. They could perform almost any physical maneuver from any vantage point, and were adept at flips, cartwheels, and other such things. They were far too shy and withdrawn to ever tell anyone this or perform in front of anyone, so they tried to keep their talents to themselves unless they were needed for whatever job they had to do. This also went along with their love for the piano, which was something they kept mainly to themselves. 

There were many things that were kept secret between the two, things they didn't think the outside world would understand. Zorn and Thorn had always felt out of place, always felt as if they belonged somewhere or else, or were someone else and then misplaced somewhere. Much of the things they talked and thought about seemed unorthodox to them, and they dared not speak of what interested them to anyone else. They had learned from early on that the world did not want them, evidence from their parents, their schoolmates, rude customers and patrons being proof of this, and they weren't about to share something that could be condemning, could be a weakness, to such a hostile environment. They had learned never to show weakness, that to depend on anyone, save eachother, was foolish, and they had learned it the hardest way. They weren't about to risk being hurt again by telling anyone they liked to play piano. They had dealt with enough mocking and questioning of their sexuality, particularly because of the jester caps for some reason, by previous members of their schoolbody and they didn't think that them playing the piano would be recieved well.

They liked to think that the mocking, the jeering, the cruel names and unacceptance, had no affect on them, but it did, in its own small way. They had learned to only trust eachother, and therefore were clumsy and uneducated when trying to deal with others who did not want to hurt or use them.

Thorn searched on the top shelf of where the packages were stored, feeling around for a moment before finally sighing and hefting himself upwards until he could see the shelf itself.

"Number 326, Thorn!" Zorn sounded impatient and Thorn rolled his eyes as he pushed packages aside, looking for the designated box.

"Know that I do, _Zorn_." Thorn emphasized his name with a slight flare of annoyance, not pleased with his brother starting to snipe at him again for no reason. Normally he would play along, but the long hours were beginning to wear on him, and he felt tired and irritable. He was sure that was the reason that Zorn was picking at him, but he didn't think that justified his behavior. 

He found the package and tossed it backwards over his head. "Catch."

Zorn turned and caught the package with easy grace, giving his brother a glare before giving it to the girl who had brought up her card. She giggled and clapped her hands.

"Wow! That was really cool! Do you always do that?"

Zorn shot a glance at Thorn, who was making his way down the shelves slowly, before returning his attention to the sheet of paper beneath his hands, his voice with a slight tinge of annoyance. "No."

Thorn rolled his eyes again and walked off to the right, shrugging to himself and muttering under his breath.

"You guys are real skilled, you know that? Very graceful!" She smiled at them. "It's great to have such a wonderful gift."

Zorn sighed. He had worked long enough to know that no customer, or patron, or whatever you called them for whatever field you were working in, really wanted to know how you were or what you were doing. All compliments and such were empty and meaningless, considering that, if he ran into this girl, for example, again on the street somewhere, she wouldn't remember him at all, and he wouldn't remember her. He disliked the intense charade of good will that went on back and forth between consumer and provider. She wanted something, he gave her what she wanted, that was it, that should be the end of any kind of relationship they would have, but some people seemed insistent enough to pretend that it mattered to them, to feign concern for Zorn or Thorn's welfare, despite the fact it was all so obviously a lie.

Zorn wasn't fond of customers, consumers, patrons, and their like. Years of work with too little pay, dealing with too many rude people, had made him sarcastic and often short with customers, and it was that side that came forth at the sound of her compliment. For all he knew, she could have been sincere, but the temporary nature of the entire ordeal made it insincere.

"There are other people behind you." He pointed behind her, and she looked confused for a second, obviously expecting a thank you or some continuation of the conversation after the short pause. She moved to one side, looking sheepish and awkward.

"Sorry, I forgot." She turned to the rest of the line, bowing slightly."Sorry everyone!"

As Zorn had expected, the rest of the line showed almost no awknowledgement of her presence, only interested in getting what they wanted from Zorn and Thorn and then continuing on with their life, the jester twins and the girl completely erased from memory, unnecessary and inconsequential. He sighed underneath his breath and crossed off the box number on his list, waiting for the next person to appear in line.

The shift dragged on much as the cafeteria one had, the same people getting the same things, all of them blurring to Zorn who was beginning to care less and less. He blamed it on his conditioned disinterest, but in truth the day was beginning to catch up to him, and fatigue was beginning to work its way into his motions and actions. He began to make small mistakes, most of which he caught in time, but some of which slipped by his notice until they were brought back to his attention by angry and belligerent customers, believing Zorn's apparent lack of care in his work as a sign of negligence and laziness. Although Thorn himself was also having problems locating the right box, his mistakes weren't noticed as openly and loudly as Zorn's were, but Zorn was far too tired to even muster the energy to retort to anything the angry person in front of him said about his character or lifestyle, simply fixing his mistake and carrying on as if nothing happened. This apparently infuriated supposedly-slighted customers even more, but Zorn refused to expend energy on such a useless endeavor. In a few hours they'd both forget either of them existed, so what was the use in protesting comments by someone who obviously had no knowledge of what they were talking about?

Thorn began to try and stay on the ground more often, as he was beginning to get dizzy and somewhat lightheaded. Sometimes he felt like he was falling off of something, and he would jerk his limbs in order to land properly, only to find he was standing on solid ground. It was extremely disconcerting. Zorn, however, was plagued with missing time, almost an hour going by without him remembering a single thing that happened. He wasn't sure whether or not he had fallen asleep, or if nothing of interest had happened, or if he had just completely lost his conscious mind and completed his job mechanically without any thought. Thorn confirmed that he hadn't fallen asleep, but as to what happened during that hour was a mystery. Zorn could not explain why he could not remember.

The shift finally ended, and the two of them thankfully left the small, crowded restroom, closing the metal shutter over the window and walking over to a vending machine, searching for the drink that had given them that energy boost earlier that day. They were both desperately in need of one. Unable to find the particular brand that Lurecia had picked out for them before, they settled for the can of soda that Thorn had found before, which was apparently stocked here. Zorn got one of them while Thorn took the one he had put into his backpack earlier and they set off for their next class, in the somewhat distant science building.

"What are we going to do?" Zorn asked his brother as they walked through the dimming twilight. Thorn looked at him in confusion. "We don't have the money to keep buying these..."

Thorn paused for a moment, thinking about the matter which hadn't crossed his mind. He stared down at the can he was holding, unable to find a suitable answer. "Know I don't...know I DO however..."

He looked back at his brother. "Do this without caffeine we cannot."

Zorn nodded solemnly and sighed. The two of them were trying to make the two sodas last as long as possible, a trait they had picked up earlier in life with the rarity and small portions of food and drinks. "The Cafeteria...we can get soda there...not like this, yes, but we can get some caffeine there for free..."

"Smuggle it out we must..." Thorn finished the thought for his brother, who nodded, the slight jingling of bells accompanying the motion. "Not too hard that will be..."

Zorn nodded, then reached into his pocket with his free hand, pulling out the slip of paper that contained his schedule. He scanned it again and sighed softly. "Just as I thought..."

"What?"

"We have Hojo again..."

"Teaches Biology too he does?" Thorn blinked for a moment, then grew more serious. "Like him I do not."

Zorn nodded with him. "I agree...I don't think he likes us."

Thorn laughed for a moment, although it was not out of happiness. It was a bitter, scornful laugh, only audible for a few moments before it was replaced by his equally bitter voice. "No one does."

Zorn cocked his head for a moment as the two of them ascended the steps to the Science building. "True...true."

There was a silence as Zorn tried to think of some kind of response to Thorn's statement, which wasn't as quick in coming as he had been accustomed. Eventually, although he did think of something to say, too much time had elapsed for it to have the effect he would have liked, and he eventually let it drop at that, although he didn't like leaving the conversation at such an awkward breaking point.

The two of them made their way up the flights of stairs, slightly out of breath not because they weren't used to physical exertion, as the two of them were actually remarkably physically fit because of all the work they had done all their lives, but due to their bodies protest of the extra effort that was being placed on it. The caffeine was enabling them to continue to at least appear to be awake, but their bodies were tired and wanted a decent rest. They finally shuffled into class, just in time, managing to stumble to the back and find two seats near the right corner before Hojo began speaking.

Both Zorn and Thorn were exhausted, both mentally and physically, and, by all rights, should not have been in class, as tired as they were. But the two of them refused to let sleep take hold of them, and they both stayed awake stubbornly, struggling to take notes while the room occasionally blurred, Hojo's voice became a comforting drone, and time began to slip by without their notice. Their notes were filled with broken lines, words in half, incomplete sentences, and letters that dwindled off into nothingness. Somewhere inside them they both hoped that their notes would be legible later on, but their minds were more occupied with trying to keep awake then anything else. The class went by very quickly, but by the end of it they got the feeling that Hojo was staring at them again, and they began to wonder whether or not it was obvious that they hadn't been paying attention. They had been completely focused on attempting to stay awake, and hadn't considered how that may have looked to others. They stumbled out of the class, limbs feeling thick and leaden, and they could feel Hojo's eyes on their backs.

"Doesn't like us...I really think he does not..." Thorn mumbled, and Zorn nodded in silent agreement.

"Still one more thing ahead of us...theater..."

Thorn groaned to himself, wishing for nothing else then the bed he had so foolishly left behind this morning. "So tired I am..."

"Me too...me too..." Zorn hefted his backpack again with a slight grunt, finding it digging into his shoulder more heavily then he would have liked. "But we're almost done..."

They walked along in silence for a few minutes, heading for the theater where orientation had been held. 

"Zorn...?" Thorn's soft voice came to him through the night air. Zorn didn't turn to regard his brother, who had fallen behind him slightly.

"Hmm?"

"Hungry I am..."

At the simple statement, Zorn could feel the sharp pangs of hunger hit him all at once, and he nearly doubled over, struggling to keep his body under control. All the two of them had to eat were the drinks that had kept them running, and with as much work as the two were doing, they were even more hungry then they normally would have been. The thought had been driven out of Zorn's mind by all the things he had been worrying about and doing, but Thorn's simple statement had reminded him of just how hungry he really was. He winced.

"We'll get something to eat later..."

"Closed the cafeterias will be!" Thorn quickened his pace to match with Zorn's. "Get it where will we?"

Zorn stiffened as he realized his brother was correct. He finally sighed, his tired brain unable to think of a suitable answer to the problem. "I don't know...we'll figure something out..."

Thorn wanted to press the issue, not accepting that kind of lackluster solution to their problem, but in the end decided against it. They were both irritable and tired, and beginning an argument wouldn't help with any of their problems at the moment.

They entered the theater, finding several people already gathered inside, talking and chatting amongst oneselves cheerily. The jester twins felt a surge of jealousy. No doubt they had actually had some time to rest, had a good nights sleep, didn't have to work because their parents refused to be or act like parents...

It passed quickly, and the two of them made their way down to the bottom floor, sitting down and leaning against one another for support, both of them closing their eyes with the intention of taking a quick nap before anything started, which didn't seem to be anytime soon.

It was a blissful few moments of sleep, but in the end, was still only a few moments, and the two of them were awakened far too soon for their tastes.

"Hey everybody, I'm the Theater director here. You can call me Baku!" A large man wearing a mask with two cat like ears protruding from the top was the source of their awakening. His booming voice shook them alert with short cries of surprise, jerking awake and looking around in confusion for what had woken them. Baku took this opportunity to laugh, his deep voice echoing about the empty theater. Zorn and Thorn scooted back towards the chairs, leaning against them, struggling to ignore the stares and whispered comments from some of the other members of the theater team. 

Baku sported a purplish beard from underneath the mask, which only seemed to add to the already strange atmosphere of the man, considering he was dressed in a somewhat medieval style. He was large and imposing, but not frightening in some kind of strange way...

Although they had been startled before, Zorn and Thorn felt none of the misgivings they had around Hojo or the condescension they had recieved from Lucrecia. It was comforting in a way, to be around someone who wouldn't treat them like inferiors, or glare at them silently. Baku seemed to be an odd guy, but not an unpleasant one, and Zorn and Thorn were silently gripped with relief at finally finding someone that didn't set off any internal alarms.

Baku sneezed and then threw his large arms out wide, as if to embrace the entire collection of students. His voice seemed perpetually amused, and he was smiling broadly. "Welcome to the Theater! Tonight..."

He paused as one of the students, the one Zorn and Thorn remembered as Zidane, walked up to Baku and began to whisper to him, tail twitching. Baku was silent for a while until Zidane was done, and when the tailed boy walked off, Baku again laughed uproariously.

"Gya ha ha ha! Alright, alright. I know some of you must be tired, so I'll make this quick so you can go." Zorn and Thorn noted Zidane throwing them a wink, and they stared at him in confusion. "You guys are going to be doing technical work, real electric stuff, so be prepared. We'll start real training tomorrow, but don't think I'm going soft just 'cause I'm letting you out early!" He pointed at one young man with red hair who had a headband that apparently ran over his eyes completly. His arms were crossed, and he shrugged in a dismissive way. However, his voice had a smile in it.

"Suuure, Baku, whatever."

"I mean it, Blank! Anyway..." Baku paused for a moment, then roared, his arms held high above his head, waving them in apparent alarm. "RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

Some of the students not familiar with Baku bolted for the doorway in surprise and fear, taken in by the sudden loud exclamation, but the more seasoned people stayed, smirking amongst themselves. Zorn and Thorn were too tired to try and perform such a sudden action and only stood, not sure of what to do.

"Don't worry, guys." Zidane walked over to them, an easy-going, friendly look on his face. It confused both of them. "Baku won't hurt you. He does this every year. Just go on back and try and get some sleep, you look like you need it."

Not sure why Zidane was concerned about them in the least, Zorn and Thorn nodded, eyes wide with confusion, and shuffled out of the theater, not sure of what to make of what happened. They had no previous experience to weight it against.

"That was nice of you, Baku." Zidane turned to the large man, who had turned to the few who had decided to stay.

"Yeah, well, they looked like they needed it." Baku replied gruffly before again bursting into somewhat inappropriate laughter. "Gya ha ha! They better be ready tomorrow! I ain't pullin' no punches!"

Zidane watched the jesters go, twin splotches of red and blue against the mainly darkened theater, disappearing behind the twin doors that were the entrance to the inner space. "I hope they're okay."

~~~

In truth, what Zorn and Thorn had intepreted as muttered insults and comments about them were anything but malicious. The Theater Troupe, mainly consisting of a tightly knit group of individuals that called themselves Tantalus, could see the exhaustion on their faces, the shaking of their limbs, and, despite Zorn and Thorn's best efforts and statements to the contrary, they looked utterly pathetic and adorable when they were sleeping. They had no realization that, propped up as they were by eachothers shoulders, sleeping with slight twitching movements of overworked muscles, they inspired a great sense of sympathy and pity in everyone who watched them while they were unaware. Baku had, in fact, waited for a few moments after he had arrived, staring at the two of them, before finally deciding to say something. It was obvious to everyone in the theater that the two of them had been working extremely hard for too long, and they all wanted to give them a break, considering it was the first day and all, although that wasn't an option considering the current circumstances.

Unfortunately, Zorn and Thorn, not used to people caring or showing any amount of concern over them, did not understand, and thought that, like so many times in the past, that those in the theater were laughing and making fun of them. They made their way back to their dorm, completely exhausted and thinking of nothing other then eating and sleeping. Fortunately for them, considering it was the first day, just falling asleep without studying or doing work would not have any huge adverse affect on their academic performance.

They stumbled into the building, tired and hungry, not sure what they were going to do about food. They didn't have any more money ready to spend on the vending machine and they didn't know anyone who would be kind enough to share something with them.

They had just resigned themselves to going to sleep without anything to eat until they walked by the kitchen. They could smell something cooking and saw a bald man in neat, clean clothes standing and stirring something in a pot.

They were desperate, their bodies insistent, and they entered the kitchen somewhat hesitantly, not sure of how to approach him.

"Um...excuse us..."

The bald man turned towards them, eyes completely hidden by dark sunglasses. His face was completely passive and showed little to no emotion at seeing the two jesters. Thorn struggled to keep his eyes open while Zorn took the role of speaking, as usual.

"I...I'm sorry...we haven't eaten anything all day, and we don't have any money...if you wouldn't think it rude...would you mind sharing with us?" Zorn held up his hands before the bald man could even respond. "We understand if you won't, but we just thought we'd ask..."

He stood there for a few moments, turning his gaze back to the pot and staring into its contents intently, his face still showing no change of emotion. Zorn and Thorn were positive that the answer would be negative, and weren't sure whether they should leave or apologize for asking. The awkward silence stretched longer, and Zorn finally opened his mouth to speak when the man finally moved again, reaching around near the microwave, in an area hidden from Zorn's view, to pull out a packet of ramen. He tossed it to Zorn without even looking at him, and he took it gratefully, bowing his head to the man as he had seen others do in this kind of situation.

"Thank you so much..."

He didn't respond or look up, and the two jesters guessed correctly that whatever interaction they had just had was over. Zorn and Thorn made their retreat out of the kitchen.

"Lucky we are..." Thorn was relieved. "Nice that guy is..."

"I don't know..." Zorn looked thoughtful for a moment. "I don't think he did that because he was nice..."

"Why else?"

Zorn tried to think of why, but finally shook his head in defeat. His thoughts were muddled and dark, and he couldn't think properly. "I don't know...I just...I don't know..."

Thorn let it drop there, obviously guessing at Zorn's mental state, being in that state himself.

They made it back into their room, where, too tired to actually prepare the noodles properly, they ate them uncooked out of the package, putting the packet of seasoning on their desk, not wanting to throw it away. Although it was hardly filling, it did soothe the hunger pangs for a moment, and both Zorn and Thorn fell gratefully asleep, a little after 11:30 PM. 


	3. An Offer

Author's Note: And Zorn and Thorn enter the world of intrigue! 

  
Zorn and Thorn had always found ways to eat, even if their parents had not supported them very well in this area. They could always find someone that'd be willing to give them a handout or something of that nature. When you became as desperate to survive as the twins had over the years, shame had long since ceased to be a problem. While they had deep pride in themselves for their accomplishments over the years, it was easy to swallow when it came to food.

Their next the next day class began an hour later then their shift at the Bookstore, so the two of them decided to use this extra hour as well as they could. Prepared with bottles and small containers, they set themselves to raid the dining hall so the previous night's episode would not be repeated. Considering how skilled they were at this particular practice, plus their ability to make food last for long periods, they would not have to repeat this entire endeavor for at least two weeks. If everything went to plan, that is.

They surveyed the dining area quickly when they came in, making a plan before they had gone more then five steps. Thorn positioned himself near an area with fruit, bread, and other food items meant as accompaniments for main dishes, including cookies and other desserts.

He stared at the food in front of him and waited, toying with the small containers he had concealed in the large sweater he had worn today for this purpose.

As he had expected, from behind him there was a loud crash as Zorn deliberately knocked over a display stand. Thorn glanced behind him to see Zorn already apologizing and attempting (or appearing to be) to clean up the mess he had created while all eyes fell on him.

Thorn shoved things eagerly in his pouch, not bothering with opening them or putting them in containers for the moment in favor of quantity. His jean's pockets and the large pocket on the front of his sweatshirt were quickly filled before the stand could be uprighted, after which he went and joined his brothers side nonchalantly.

"Zorn..." Thorn put a disapproving tone in his voice, but said no more, not wanting to speak in front of such a large group of people. Zorn brushed himself off, avoiding eye contact as he attempted to look irritated.

"I know, I know..."

The few who had stopped to actually help in cleaning up the mess looked up, giving the twins the customary double-take that seemed to accompany them no matter where they went. The jester hats, of course, did not help.

"Just be more careful, alright?" One of the more authoritative figures steadied the stand unnecessarily as she glanced at them. She looked vaguely familiar, but Zorn and Thorn knew from personal experience how temporary such a relationship had to be.  
The two of them nodded, even though the statement had been addressed towards the blue one of the pair, and they walked off.

"How much?" Zorn whispered underneath his breath as soon as they were out of earshot.

"Full."

"Good..."

Knowing they could not pull off the same scheme twice in a such a short time, they instead got in line for the main breakfast entree. Both of them got far more then either of them could eat, something that did not garner too many stares considering how thin they were. Most assumed that they had just not eaten in a while, or were overloading on food as most freshmen had a habit of doing. Afterwards, they headed for a corner hidden by a wall as far away from the others as possible. They had never liked sitting with other people anyway.

Once they felt reasonably safe, the majority of what was on their plates went into the plastic bowls with lids and other things they had brought with them. The extra glasses of juice and milk got poured into thermos' and they finally settled down to eat, glancing around occasionally to check if anyone was watching them. So far, no one seemed to notice. They _had_ been extra careful, after all.

Thorn spent most of the meal moving the contents of his pockets into safer and more sanitary places, eating hurriedly out of instinct when he had the time. His brother followed him in this regard automatically, the two of them so accustomed to a tight and unforgiving schedule -- such as they one they had now and had seemed to have for the majority of their lives -- that they did not allot a lot of time to food consumption.

"Enough do you think this is?"

"I think so. What time is it?" Zorn asked the question semi-rhetorically, as both of them wore a watch. They were rarely apart, but it wasn't worth taking the chance of being late. He glanced at it quickly. Although he preferred digital watches, his brother preferred older kinds. It was one of their twin idiosyncracies. "We've got some time..."

"Use this time later for homework we can...when food we have enough of that is..." Thorn picked some of the last scraps from his plate.

"That sounds about right." Zorn nodded and held a hand to his forehead for a moment, wincing. Thorn only had to look at him for a moment.

"Got one I have as well." Zorn looked at his brother. Thorn returned his attention back to his plate. "Go away I hope it will..."

"Sleep...I think it's because we need more sleep..."

The two of them matched eyes and then laughed shortly and humorlessly before standing, taking their plates and glasses with them. They left the cafeteria without so much as a second glance, the others present either too tired or too hungry to pay attention to them.

~~~

The extra time that had been given to them due to their speedy breakfast was used to store the food in their room before they had to again run off to classes. Exhaustion was taking a longer time to settle in now, considering that there had been coffee available in the cafeteria that they had taken advantage of.

Their next class took place in one of the large art-related buildings on the campus. They knew these buildings were related to the Liberal Arts, but never having found a vested interest in the field, they had not ventured or paid much attention to them during their short stay. Their only experience had been the theater troupe, which met in the same building but in an entirely different area. 

Above the large theater were several open rooms with large windows, where Zorn and Thorn found themselves precisely fifteen minutes before class started. It was a rather pretty room, wide and clear with clean, hardwood floors and large windows that took up the majority of the opposite wall. Sunlight made the room seem accommodating and warm.

Finding the room empty but verifying its location with their schedules, they instantly gravitated towards a corner and began to rifle through the books in their backpacks, whispering to one another quietly about what they thought of their recent classes.

Ten minutes before class started, a woman entered the room. She was had long brown hair tied back into a ponytail and kind eyes, covered with a pair of thin squarish spectacles. She was dressed in loose clothing with movement clearly in mind. She noticed the jester twins in the corner immediately, waving to them with a kind smile.

"Hello! Are you two in my class?"

Jerked out of their ensuing argument, the two of them blinked rapidly, trying to hide their slight surprise at being interrupted. Zorn glanced down at the schedule that he had placed on the floor before looking up again.

"Dr. Shera?"

"That's me." She smiled at them again. Although she was reacting to them much like Lucrecia and almost every authority figure they had encountered had -- soft and slow with short words -- for some reason she seemed genuine. There was none of the condescension or pity that was common to them, or the awkwardness that one got when they weren't sure whether they were talking to someone with "special needs" as they had referred to it.

That was an object of constant debate between the two of them: why was it that because they were twins, red and blue, and wore jester hats they were assumed to have some kind of mental problem? Zorn believed that they did look rather psychotic, particularly with the hats, and therefore the assumption was understandable, while Thorn blamed it on the over-emphasis on political correctness and the desire not to offend anyone in any way. Arguments on this topic had often resulted in fist fights and occasional bloody noses or black eyes. They could be remarkably stubborn at times.

Something about Dr. Shera did not seem threatening...it was very unlike the other teachers the twins had encountered so far. It almost seemed as if she could not hurt them in any way...or rather, she had no intention of doing so. No private agenda hidden in her words...peculiar. "What are your names?"

"I'm Zorn, he's Thorn." Zorn gestured appropriately.

"Well, I'm glad to have you both here with me." She did not question Thorn's apparent lack of speech yet, only moving to one side to stretch before the class started. Zorn and Thorn had heard the line before from many people who had been lying through their teeth. It was too early to decide whether Shera was following that path, so they remained silent.

Yoga and Meditation was apparently a far more popular class then either Zorn or Thorn had ever guessed. People kept filtering in, even after the class had begun, although Shera did not notice or perhaps did not care enough to admonish them for being late. Zorn and Thorn had secured their spot in the corner however, thus ensuring that they would have little contact with others during the class which was how they preferred it anyway.

They sat with their legs crossed, feeling extremely self-conscious, as Shera told them to close their eyes and focus. 

"Now sit and think. Listen. And breathe. Count your breathing, hold it for a few seconds, and release. You are nothing but your breathing. Concentrate on nothing else."

Each of the brothers was convinced that his counterpart was falling for this new-age hype while he was just sitting there breathing. It was ironic, really.

Her voice throughout the class became a drone, a comforting hum in the back of their minds. She narrated long stories, explaining in great detail where they were, what they were doing, and how at peace they should be. Breathing was also a large part of it, so much so that both Zorn and Thorn were more aware of their breathing then they had ever been before. Although her guided meditation did not exactly work on them, it did make them more aware of exactly how exhausted they were. Sometimes breathing seemed so difficult...

She continued speaking, talking about losing yourself and letting everything go, and Zorn and Thorn sat with their eyes closed, breathing deep and long, trying to clear their minds of everything like she had instructed.

When she had them do an exercise on their backs, the twins were doomed. They were half-asleep while they had been sitting up, barely able to keep their heads from falling forward onto their chests. Now that they were lying on the floor in a relaxed position, with Shera's voice continuing in the background, before they even were aware of it, they had fallen asleep.

Fortunately, some of the exercises that Shera was encouraging them to do required non-movement for long periods of time and deep introspection, so the fact that Zorn and Thorn slept went unnoticed. It was also fortunate that they were totally silent. It was only when they were required to sit up again that finally their exhaustion was noticed.  
Shera eventually made her way over to them, through the soft giggles from the rest of the class, and nudged both of them softly. "Zorn? Thorn?"

Instinctively and immediately, the two of them lashed out with their arms, desperately seeking the other. Once they made contact with their counterpart, they used their support and weight to scrabble away from her almost as if she had been attempting to attack them. Thorn clutching Zorn's arm tightly, the two of them lept upwards, slipping and sliding for a moment on the hardwood floor before they regained their balance. They stood in perfect unison in almost matching poses, poised on their toes to either run or fight, breathing in sporadic, frightened gasps, accessing the area for potential avenues of escape for only a second before returning wide, uncomprehending and frightened eyes towards the rest of their classmates. The two of them stood at ready, at a defensive.

The class stared at them for a few moments before they realized where they were and what they were doing, and the two of them relaxed, feeling trapped and awkward. Self-consciously checking their jester caps and brushing down their clothes, Zorn covered his eyes with his hand in embarrassment, mumbling under his breath while Thorn toyed with the sleeve of his shirt.

"We...we're sorry. We didn't mean to fall asleep...we haven't...slept much lately. I'm sorry."

"That's alright." The concern in Shera's eyes made it painfully clear that they were going to be detained for a discussion after class. "Just try to pay more attention, alright?"

They nodded, both turning soft red from embarrassment as they settled back on the floor. While the rest of the class tittered in the background amidst some hushed whispers, Shera glared at them as well as she could, gaining silence after a few minutes.

"Let's continue."

Deeply embarassed about what happened, Zorn and Thorn forced themselves to stay awake throughout the rest of the class, even when the exercise required lying prostrate on the floor. Through sheer force of will, they managed to make it through the class without another embarassing moment. Ironically, by focusing so hard on not falling asleep they only managed to tense themselves up further then they were when they had originally come in.

As they had expected, after class ended Shera looked over at the two of them again. "May I speak with you?"

The two of them nodded, moving back into their corner and sitting down, both sighing at the same time. Speaking with a teacher after class was never good and their schedule was far too tight to allow for a great deal of time to be spent in this way.

They sat and waited for her as she approached them, sitting crosslegged in front of them. Neither of them wanted to initiate the conversation, but finally Shera made the first move.

"Are you two...how much sleep do you get?"

Zorn and Thorn exchanged quick glances. "Eight hours."

They had always lied about how much they slept. People could not understand or tolerate how hard they had to work, how sleeping for long periods of time was just not an option for them. They always had a suggestion, a different method, an admonition for being so deliberatly harmful to their bodies, and eventually the pair had just become tired of it. However, it seemed that Shera knew this was a falsehood. They had almost expected that. She sighed slightly.

"You probably wouldn't listen to me even if I told you to get more..."

Zorn and Thorn nodded subconsciously and she smiled at them softly.

"What I'm more worried about is how you reacted when you woke up. Do you always get so...defensive?"

"Only when others wake us up."

"Why?"

Zorn and Thorn stared at one another, searching for a quick answer in each other's eyes, before Zorn finally turned back to Shera, pulling his backpack on while he did so.

"Why not?"

Thorn followed his lead and Shera stood, almost as if giving permission for the two to begin their trip to the door.

"I'm just worried, that's all." She called after them. They didn't respond as they left, already a few minutes behind in getting to their next job.

"Nosy I think she is." Thorn mumbled as they walked to the mailroom. "None of her _business_ it is."

"What I'm more concerned is that she might try to get us into counseling again." Zorn scratched at the side of his face. "That would not be good."

"Conflict...not good at all that would be." Thorn mimicked his movements. "If she does that...what do we do?"

Zorn paused before finally shrugging. His tone was a bit more hostile then he intended. "_I_ don't know."

Thorn left it at that, the two of them making it to the mailroom in time to avoid getting admonished by the supervisor.

  


~~~

While they were inquiring around about any jobs that were available, Zorn and Thorn had made several posters to advertise their desire for money and the exchange of their services for it. These posters had made their rounds around the school and ran thusly: 

Work Wanted  
Two Jesters will  
do anything for money  
Any task or job  
We'll do it! 

Must be able to set hours  
Find us at the following locations  
at the following times: 

...followed by information to help prospective employers come in contact with the pair, after which they would negotiate the job. As they bickered and argued in the mailroom, Thorn veritably throwing packages at his brother, who was making biting and vicious remarks in return, someone they had not anticipated had found one of their fliers and became interested.

Two jesters who worked in the mailroom could be very useful, particularly if they were as desperate as the poster seemed to state.

"654."

"Getting it I am, hold on..."

"I don't have all _day_-"

Zorn was writing busily on the clipboard in front of him, preparing to turn and catch the package which he had little doubt would be coming directly for his head. When he looked up to confirm the package owner's presence, something caught his attention; a blur of white and silver out of the corner of his eye.

When he turned his head slightly to see the blur more clearly, it formed into the shape of a person, leaning forward on the counter beside the visibly uncomfortable person at the front of the line. He was leaning on thin, feminine hands, a dangerous and somehow sultry look on his face as he stared at Zorn with a very palpable..._hunger_.

The package hit the back of Zorn's head with a loud noise, thumping onto the counter into the eager hands of its owner, who rapidly vacated. Zorn did not react, only slightly and almost subconsciously leaning away from the man, now in the newly-empty space, who was leaning close to him.

"Wrong with you what is, catch that why didn't you, so _stupid_ you are-" Thorn remarked from behind his brother, flipping his way to the ground and stomping up to the counter, staring at his brother angrily before noticing their visitor. Once he noticed the hunger in the person in front of him's frightening, blue eyes, he was just as equally struck silent. The two of them stood, leaning back as their visitor leaned forward, frightened and paralyzed all at once.

"Are you Zorn and Thorn?" Silky, frightening voice. Zorn and Thorn nodded at the same time. Both looked behind the man and found no one else in line, perhaps intimidated out of coming up.

"That's good." He turned his head to one side, long silver hair, adorned with a few feathers that matched in color, falling around his shoulders in waves as he regarded one perfect hand. He brushed his hand off on the tight black leather vest he was wearing before he reached downwards, pulling one of their crumpled posters out of what they assumed were his pockets. "Is this yours?"

Zorn, trembling, reached out a hand, taking it from him with great trepidation. He flattened it out, recognizing he and his brother's alternating handwriting on the piece of paper. While he stared at the paper, his brother nodded in response to his question.

"Good." The man turned his attention back to the twins, smiling in an entirely disturbing way. Zorn and Thorn were seized by the desire to run away, run anywhere as long as it was away from this man. 

"My name is Kuja, and I have a job for you both. I think you may be of use to me."

Zorn and Thorn looked at eachother for a moment, exchanging panicked expressions for a moment in an effort to communicate the fear they were enthralled in, before turning back. Zorn put the paper on the counter, staring at it and moving it back and forth as an excuse not to make eye contact as he stammered in his response.

"W-we're not supposed t-to talk when we're on d-duty-"

"Is that so?" Kuja craned his head forward, words almost purring from his throat which only made him more terrifying. The quiet dignity and calm he regarded the twins was frightening...like some kind of hideous snake. When Kuja put one hand on the paper to steady it, Zorn pulled his hand back as if it were burnt. Kuja smiled at them in a way that did not fit the situation in the least. "It will only take a moment, and I am willing to pay you both well. That _is_ what you want, isn't it?"

Money. Their one weakness. Even if Kuja was the most frightening person they had ever encountered, excluding that one brush with the stranger in the car, they could not refuse money and a job from him.

"W-what do you want us to do? P-please make it quick, we're not supposed to-"

"What's wrong with him?" Utter condescension and superiority in Kuja's voice and face as he looked over at Thorn. His expression was cool and unconcerned, almost calculating. "Why won't he speak? It's okay...I won't bite." Another frightening smile at Thorn, who physically recoiled from him.

Zorn and Thorn exchanged glances again, trying desperatly to convey messages back and forth nonverbally as effectively as possible.

"No...he doesn't like talking in front of people..." Zorn tried to keep a handle on his voice, trying to keep himself steady. Kuja had every advantage in this conversation so far and, having realized this, Zorn tried desperatly to regain some ground. Kuja feigned a concerned expression.

"Oh, that's too bad. No...people skills, I presume." Neither of the twins liked his voice or how he pronounced words. "Well, that's inconsequential really...you won't have to deal with people."

"What do you want us to do?" Zorn looked around quickly to see if their supervisor was present, which they weren't. Whether or not this was a good thing was debatable.

"I have...packages coming in for me..." Kuja looked down and studied his hand which still rested on the paper. He lifted it slowly, hand extended in almost a pose, towards his face. Zorn wasn't sure exactly what he was doing. The hand drifted so close to Zorn's face that he was too frightened to move away before it continued on its upward journey. "And there are packages I wish to send. The problem is..." He brushed a strand of a hair away from his hair with grace that should not have been possible. "I would rather not have anyone _know_ about it." He looked back at them. "Do you understand?"

Again the twins exchanged glances and this time it was not hard to interpret. This sounded illegal.

"You want us to-"

"Shh." Kuja's hand flashed outwards without warning, one of his fingers pressing against Zorn's lips with speed impossible to track. Zorn jumped backwards violently, startled and frightened, arms moving rapidly to block his face and wave away a hand that had already left. Kuja smiled at his reaction, as Thorn looked back and forth between the two, apparently trying to decide what to do. "Let's not talk about it more then we have to, alright?"

"How much?" Thorn finally managed to speak, watching as his brother hesitantly returned to the counter after rubbing at his mouth with his sleeve. Kuja looked at him with mock surprise.

"So it does speak! Marvelous." It all sounded so wrong coming from him. Kuja leaned towards him now, and having that attention being paid to him was making Thorn extremely uncomfortable. "You're both so..." Kuja paused for a moment, cocking his head to one side as he looked upwards. He looked back down at them with a predatory air, and the two could have sworn that the next word out of his mouth was going to be 'delicious'.

"Refreshing. I am..." He paused again, brushing another errant strand of his hair. "_Quite_ sure that you will not get another offer like this...believe me...your pay would best be described as...exorbitant." He smiled at them both.

Zorn and Thorn exchanged glances again. It was a tempting offer, but Kuja was just so...so _creepy_. But it was a job, one that could be done discreetly and without much effort, and if the pay was as good as Kuja made it sound, then...

"Alright."

"Splendid." Kuja leaned forward again, placing one hand on each of the brothers shoulders. Fear and slight disgust was present on their features as Kuja smiled at them knowingly. "I'll bring something by tomorrow. I trust you'll be here." The tone in his voice denoted dire consequences if they were not. "We can talk more then. Right now, I have other...business to attend to."

The dominant thought in both the jesters minds at the moment ran something along the lines of 'Please please please stop touching me.'

"Okay."

"Alright."

The two were desperate to be rid of him and Kuja seemed to be quite aware of this. He removed his hands from their shoulders with lingering movements, almost making as if to move his hands towards their necks before finally pulling away.

"I'll see you two later. Thank you _so_ much for being so _very_ co-operative."

He walked away, revealing tight leather pants in the exact same vein of his shirt and a very graceful gait. As soon as he was out of sight, the two brothers shuddered at the same time.

"I don't want to work for him. He's..." Zorn shuddered again, brushing at his shoulder with one hand as if hoping to remove the memory of his touch. Thorn managed to get a handle on his distaste with more speed then his brother, slowly heading back to the shelves.

"Money it is, so work we will. Don't like him either though...he looks..."

"I don't like how he looks at us." Zorn struggled to keep himself under control, his body already weak and tired and now shivering as well. "I don't like that at all. He's..."

"Money it is...easy work it is...so do it we will..." Thorn tried to make himself sound stronger then his brother, but he knew that the same fear that was present in Zorn's voice was present in his own. He busied himself organizing packages that were already in order as he tried to forget what had just happened.

"I know...just..." Zorn shuddered once more before looking down at his clipboard, picking up his pencil with shaking fingers. "Just..." He couldn't really put Kuja into words. Something was just...

Kuja just _was_.

Neither Zorn or Thorn were happy about that or the situation they had just found themselves in. It wasn't the thought that maybe they were going to be party to some illegal activity that had frightened them.

It was that blatant, sexual energy that had flowed off of Kuja, the whole way he carried himself, the sexuality that was present in every movement he made. The fact that for a few moments, all of Kuja's attention had been focused on them, and for a few frightening moments, they had felt desired. They had felt sexually desired, and that was incomprehensibly terrifying to them.

Neither of them had any desire to see Kuja again, but they had feeling they would not have much of a choice. 


End file.
